Cold Snap
by Makuta-Tobi
Summary: Freezing chills and howling winds bring together two burning souls (Volume 2-3 adjacent)


Beacon was no stranger to odd weather patterns; the summers could bring sweltering heat and the winters could result in doors frozen shut, needing to be chiseled away with picks before they could see usage. But for the students who were unaccustomed to the weather, it was brutal. Ruby knew cold as well as she could, from her time training in the mountain ranges to the harsh winters she had to struggle through with her father. But this was awful.

The wind shook the walls of the very room, ice and snow struck against the window, sending streaks across the glass. A nearby vent had been covered with newspaper and taped down so as to prevent more cold air from seeping into the room. A space heater was set up on the floor between the two makeshift bunk beds of team RWBY's room, turned up to max, Ruby was still shivering. She had insisted a nightlight be set up in the room, much to Weiss' annoyance, because the normally illuminating street lights down below them were obscured so heavily by the fog and snow that the room was essentially bitch black, and the noise was making her paranoid.

Now, the rest of Ruby's team sleeping, she was left with her own thoughts. The past few months had been hard on her, on them all, but she was left feeling behind. Ruby's abilities were more than a match for most of her classmates, but she still felt as though they were advancing far past her, even her own teammates seemed distant. She pulled her blanket tighter around her, and brought her knees to her chest. No matter what she did, Ruby couldn't get the thought that she would soon be obsolete to everyone who she cared about out of her head.

There was another huge burst of wind and the glass pane rattled, then the noise subsided. Ruby could feel her heart pounding; this storm felt a little less routine, and her mental state was making it seem worse than it probably was. Her anxiety was at an all time high and she just wanted it to be over, wanted the snow to stop falling, the gales to stop blowing, and the world to be peaceful again outside her window, yet no matter how much she prayed, it wasn't happening. Again and again the wind picked up, rising and falling, the ominous roar made her shiver almost as much as the cold.

Then there was a click. Not a very loud one, just a faint one. But with the click, the nightlight she had been so insistent upon went out, and the room was cast into utter darkness. The fear and anxiety bubbled over, and Ruby's hands flew to her mouth as she let out a scream. She suppressed it quickly, but the noise had already escaped her mouth. She knew, any moment now, someone was going to turn on the lights, and Yang would try to comfort her while her other two teammates glared at her in anger for her stupid action. That's how it was. Ruby Rose, the baby. Ruby Rose, the wuss. Ruby Rose, the useless.

But the hand that she felt on her leg was not that of her older sister. The fingers were not as calloused, the touch was gentler, less like someone calming a scared animal, and more like a bird coming to roost on its favourite perch. Ruby sat up with a jolt and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Weiss was standing next to her bed, looking up at her with shimmery eyes. Her hand still lay on Ruby's knee and she tried to form the words to ask why. Or how to express her feelings that she had been holding for her teammate ever since the first trial, but all she could do was stare. The only sound Ruby could hear was her own rapid heartbeat, and it seemed like it might stay that way forever, but Weiss' part lips told her that might not be accurate.

"Are you feeling okay?" Weiss asked. It wasn't a snide remark, or a question out of annoyance. There was calm and gentle waves to the tone of her voice. She could feel so much weight in those words, the sincerity, not out of obligation, but out of genuine concern. This thought made a ball well up in Ruby's throat. She tried to swallow once, twice, but wasn't able to speak, so she just nodded. But her trembling shoulders betrayed her. Weiss looked around, taking her hand off of Ruby's leg and placed it on the mattress. She identified the next spot and placed her other arm up on the bed as well, and in one motion pulled herself off the ground, and slid onto the bed next to Ruby. The suspended bedframe swung side to side with the addition of the extra weight, but it held.

"Did you have a bad dream or something?" Weiss asked, leaning forward slightly. Ruby could only shake her head, then took a deep breath and was finally able to speak.

"I haven't actually been able to sleep yet," she said, glancing at the digital clock, forgetting that the power was out. She couldn't even read what time it was.

"To be honest, I haven't slept well tonight, either," Weiss looked down at her hands, unsure of what to do with herself. "It's not the weather or anything, or... I mean, I don't think it's the weather. I'm used to these snowstorms, we get them in Atlas all the time, it's not a big deal. But..." Weiss trailed off, not sure how to articulate her emotions.

"So much has been happening lately," Ruby said, giving form to Weiss' own thoughts, "and it feels like we're not really ourselves. Enrolling in a new school and then being pushed to the forefront of all these horrible things, whether we want to or not, our whole lives are changing, and it feels... wrong."

Weiss did not try to argue with her partner's words. She was right, between the training, the every day classes, the White Fang, that Roman guy, not to mention the upcoming Vytal Festival, everything was different. Weiss had been groomed from a young age to become the heiress to her family's estate, and she had trained herself up from nothing to become a fine warrior, separating two painfully different lives, and choosing her own path, and suddenly it all felt like too much. But she could only imagine how Ruby felt. Trapped in the shadow of her older sister, in a positive light to mirror Weiss' family's own relationship with her and her sister, brought up to Beacon because of her advanced talent, surpassing everyone she knew and being dropped head first into a world that, by her own admission, her family didn't want for her. It was so similar to her own upbringing, bur Weiss had learned to shut it out, to drive her own path and be her own person, while Ruby had so much given to her that she never needed to learn how to numb herself, and now she was being shown the true outcome of her actions.

Ruby was still trembling, and Weiss didn't know how to react. She had never comforted someone like this before. She could tell that her teammate was putting on a brave face, but the contortion of her face, the tremble of her lip, Weiss knew the signs. She was on the verge of tears, and the next few moments would determine their worth. She let herself go back home, to remember how she felt when she received the right attention. Not her father's dismissal, not her sister's stern tone, not even her brother's own crocodile tears, but the feeling of the hug from her butler. The one man who actually felt like family.

The older girl leaned in, and slipped her arms around her friend. Her cheek brushed Ruby's neck, and Ruby could feel the cold. But it wasn't cold like snow. Not harsh like ice, or frigid like the wind that rattled their room, but cold like a lake at the beginning of spring. Cold like ice cream handed to you by the owner of the shop, dripping down your hand and making a mess at your feet. Chilled like ice water, but with a warmth behind it that felt comforting. It felt like love. Love like her sister and father, but not the same, it felt stronger, more real, love for someone who has experienced so much like you and knows how you feel. And it was that love that broke the dam on Ruby's emotions. Her eyes were wet, and then they were dripping. She returned Weiss' embrace and buried her face against her nightshirt and sobbed.

Weiss pulled Ruby closer, stroking her dark hair and running her nails up and down Ruby's back slowly, planting soft kisses occasionally on Ruby's head. She felt her own tears well up and spill over, but she didn't let that detract from the moment. Weiss knew Ruby needed this more than she did. They stayed like this for several minutes, the only sound was the raging winds outside and Ruby's sniffles and sobs. After several minutes, the younger one pulled away and looked up at Weiss as she wiped her eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking at Weiss who was also wiping her own eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We should probably get to sleep, it's late," Weiss said. Ruby looked down and away, unsure of how to proceed. But Weiss leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, then placed another at the corner of her lips. "Good night Ruby," she said, sliding from the bed and down into her own.

Ruby lay in her bed, alone once again, and placed her fingers on the spot Weiss had kissed. She could still feel a warmth there that permeated throughout her entire body. After that, the sound of the storm outside wasn't so bad, and the darkness felt like a blanket wrapped around her, lulling her to sleep.

Outside, a black bird flapped its wings, and the winds died down.


End file.
